Optometer.



PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

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OPTOMETBR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6, 1904.

UNrrn STATES Patented February 21, 1905.

EDIVARD A. MOORE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES W. CLARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

OPTOMETER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,125, dated February 21, 1905.

Application filed December 6, 1904:. Serial No. 235,714:-

To (.LZZ whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. Moons, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Optometers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in optometers, and refers more specificall y to that class of optometers which are so constructed as to be capable of being folded together in small compass for convenience in transportation, more particularly by mail, and which may be made at such low cost as to profitably permit of its production and sale for a single use only thereof.

The device herein shown is more particularly applicable for use by Opticians who vend eyeglasses and spectacles through correspondence by mail or otherwise and who do not, therefore, have access to their customers for the purpose of testing their vision by the use of the usual more permanent devices employed by Opticians when personally making examinations of this kind. In a device of this character it is important that it be produced at low cost, that it may be packed in small compass for transportation, preferably by mail, and particularly when set up for use, that it possess such stability as to insure accuracy of measurement, and thereby enable a prospective customer under the directions supplied by the Optician to furnish such measurements as will enable the Optician to furnish the customer with the lenses required. In such use of the device it will ordinarily be used but once. For this reason the device must be of such stability as to be accurate while capable of being produced at a low cost.

My device while primarily designed for individual customers is of such construction as to permit of its satisfactory successive use by Opticians whose business does not warrant the purchase of a more elaborate outfit;

' The form of the invention herein disclosed such low cost as to warrant its being furnished to a prospective customer for a single use only.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an optometer made in accordance with my-invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the strip constituting the scale-strip. Figs. 3 and A are details of the lens-holder and target, respectively. 'As shown in the drawings, A designates as a whole the scale-strip, B the lens-holder, detachably afiixed to one end to the scale-strip, and C a target which is slidable longitudinally of said strip. Said parts are made of thin sheet material, a strong durable carboard being an approved material for this purpose. The lens-holder is provided near its upper end with an opening across which extends a lens 6 which may be applied to the holder in any suitable manner.

The strip on which is formed or indicated the scale a is herein shown as made of a flat piece of suitable sheet material and folded along a longitudinal folding-line a" to constitute the two oppositely-inclined sides of a triangular-shaped part, the third side or base of which is omitted. Said strip is provided at one end and on its opposite sides with oppositely-directed lugs or projections (0 The lens-holder and target are provided with triangular-shaped openings Z) 0, adapted to receive the strip when folded in the manner shown in Fig. 1. The lens-holder is placed upon the strip after the same has been folded in the form shown in Fig. 1 from the end of the strip remote from the projections a and is slid along said strip until arrested by contact with the inner margins of said lugs, said inner margins constituting stop-shoulders for the lens-holder. The target is thereafter affixed to the scale-strip in the same manner.

Said scale-strip is provided with a scale a, which is graduated and numbered with reference to the character of lens employed, and the arrest of the target at either of the marks indicates a measurement by which the optician may determine ,the character of lens required to remedy the defect of vision which has been measured by the use ofthis instrument. The parts of said lens-holder and target below the scale-strip conveniently constitute handles 7) c, the handles 6 being grasped by one hand,together with the adjacent end of the scale-strip,to hold the instrument while in use, and the handle 0' is grasped by the other hand to slide the target backwardly and forwardly on the scale-strip.

In the use of the device by an optician it is held with the lens in front of one eye of the patient, with the strip directed forwardly therefrom, and the other eye of the patient is closed or his vision otherwise obscured. VVhen in this position, the target is moved toward and away from the lens until the proper point on the scale is reached, at which the test-matter on the target is most readily discerned. The patient when using the. device himself holds it in the same manner, he holding the device steady by grasping the handle of the lens-holder with one hand and manipulating the target with the other. The point indicated on the scale at which the target stops, as before stated, indicates to the optician filling the prescription the character of lens required.

The fitting of the sliding target closely to the polygonal scale-strip or member assures that the target shall reliably remain where placed, and thereby facilitate the taking of a reading from the instrument. It will be observed that by reason of the engagement of the face of the lens-holder with the shoulders, constituted by the projections or lugs a and the close fit of the polygonal scale-strip or member within the like-shaped opening of the lens-holder produces a construction which holds the lens-holder firmly in its place on the strip, whereby the accuracy of the instrument when used as per the directions of the person sending the same out may be relied upon.

While I have herein shown a scale-strip or member which is made up of two longitudinally-inclined parts, it will be observed that the same general construction is produced if the scale-strip be folded so as to be formed into other polygonal cross-section. The form herein shown, however, is a preferred one, inasmuch as it requires a minimum amount of material for its manufacture and at the same time produces a rigid strip and firm connection between the parts of the device when set up or assembled.

When the device is to be transported by mail or otherwise, the lens-holder and target are removed from the strip and the strip A 1 flattened, as shown in Fig. 2. Thereafter the lens-holder and target are laid flatwise against one or both faces of the strip, and the parts are held together in a suitable manner, an elastic band being convenient for the purpose of binding them together.

As hereinabove suggested, the structural details of the instrument shown may be somewhat varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited thereto except as hereinafter made the subject of specific claims.

1 claim as my invention 1. In an optometer, a strip upon which is indicated a scale, said strip being made of thin material and folded in polygonal form, a lensholder made of thin material and detachably fitted to said scale-strip and a target having sliding engagement with said strip.

2. In an optometer, a strip upon which is indicated a scale, said strip being made of thin material and folded to polygonal cross-section, a lens-holder made of thin material and provided with an opening of the same shape as the cross-section of the strip and within which the strip closely fits, a stop on the strip for limiting the movement of the holder on the strip, and a target slidable on the strip.

3. An optometer comprising a strip upon which is indicated a scale, said strip being made of sheet material and folded in polygonal form, a lens-holder and a target provided with openings corresponding to the cross-section of the folded scale-strip and having sliding engagement therewith.

4:. An optometer comprising a strip upon which is indicated a scale, said strip being made of a thin sheet material and adapted to be folded in polygonal cross-section, a lens-holder and a target made of thin material and provided with openings which closely fit said polygonal scale-strip, said lens-holder and target being slidable upon and detachable from the strip.

5. An optometer comprising a strip upon which is indicated a scale, said strip being made of sheet material and folded in polygonal form, a lens-holder and a target provided with openings corresponding to the cross-section of the folded scale-strip and having sliding engagement therewith, said holder and target extending beneath the strip to constitute handles for said parts.

6. An optometer comprising a strip made of thin material provided with a scale, said 'strip being adapted to be folded to constitute a scale member of polygonal cross-section, a flat lens-holder and a fiat target made of thin material and provided with openings corresponding in shape to the cross-section of the strip and adapted to be slid over the strip, the strip being provided with a stop to limit the movement of the holder.

7 An optometer comprising a thin strip divided by a central longitudinal fold-line into two longitudinal sections which are adapted to be folded along said fold-line at an angle to each other, a lens-holder made of thin material and provided with a triangular opening and adapted to be fitted on said strip and a target slidable along said strip.

8. An optometer comprising a thin strip divided by a central longitudinal fold-line into two longitudinal sections which are adapted to be folded along said fold-line at an angle to each other, a lens-holder made of thin material and provided with a triangular opening and adapted to be fitted on said strip, and a target made of thin material and provided with a triangular opening, the strip fitting closely in said opening and the target sliding endwise of the strip.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afiix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses, this 26th day of November, 2 A. D. 1904.

EDWARD A. MOORE.

Witnesses:

G. R. VVILKINs, W. L. HALL. 

